Fiscal Policy

Update 371: Ends Meet in Budget Agreement;Further Fiscal Hostilities Postponed ‘til 2021 Like a thunderclap on a sunny day, a budget agreement has appeared almost from nowhere to remove us from threat of a government shutdown or sovereign default this fall. A compromise between the House and the White House, the deal bears signal progressive …

Update 346 — FY 2020 Coming into ViewBackward, Baby Steps So Far; Cliff 2.0 Looms As Congress departs for a two-week recess, it leaves behind a budget process with miles to go. Where does the FY 2020 budget making process stand, what steps are ahead, what is at stake, and what are the obstacles to …

Update 323 — Wall or Nothing WH Stays Aloof Trump Unmoved: Let Them Make Adjustments Before the holiday break, we wrote an update on the budget wranglings over Trump’s border wall. At the time, it looked likely that the government was heading for a partial shutdown. The record-breaking shutdown is now in its 25th day. …

Update 320 — Budget Outcome Still TBD After Wall-Eyed White House Fakes Out GOP Donald Trump’s decision yesterday not to sign Congress’ extension of a continuing resolution in place since September 28 to February 8 of next year has brought both the budget process and the federal government to the brink of shutdown. It seems …

Update 311: Economic Policy Issues Throughout the 2018 Midterm Campaign As we look ahead to next week’s midterms, we take a look back at four of the key economic policy themes that have played out this cycle. Across the country this cycle we have seen common themes and policies resonating with voters in seemingly disparate …

Update 301: Your Need-to-Know on the Budget GOP Takes What Could be Final Fiscal Bites In what could be its fiscal swan song, the GOP congressional majority has, as of this writing, approved about 75 percent of discretionary spending for FY 19, which starts on October 1. Will the bill(s) be enacted and a …

Update 277 – Whither Social Security, on the Vine? Or Really Just in Need of a Fix in Time? This week’s Social Security Trustee Report — little noticed only in part because it was not alarming — was another reminder that the nation is in arrears in maintaining its social infrastructure. This we have long known. Less appreciated …

Update 263 – The Dog Catches the Bus: Mick Mulvaney’s Mysterious Mission at CFPB This week saw Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Mick Mulvaney appear before both the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees. After years of working aggressively in Congress to shred the Bureau to pieces, Mulvaney is charged with the operating …

Update 262 — Peering over the Fiscal Cliff: Trillion-Dollar Deficits Far as the Eye Can See Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that the federal government’s annual budget deficit will reach $1 trillion next fiscal year. Under current CBO expectations, the national debt will exceed $33 trillion by fiscal 2028, up from …

Update 258 — Omnibus Situation: Last Stop Before Two-Week Recess As of this writing on Thursday afternoon, one more piece of Congressional business remains before members and staff can start a long and long-awaited recess. Once again, Congress confronts a deadline of midnight tomorrow to keep the federal government funded. But no one wants to …